Why comedians do not call out Churchill and suffer silently

The past few days have seen Kenyan comedian and entrepreneur Churchill come under some fierce scrutiny as he has been “exposed” for allegedly mistreating his guys at Laugh Industry. The guys I am referring to are his creatives, his comedians who it is said, get a raw deal when they sign on to be a part of his company and subsequently, part of his TV shows Churchill Show or Churchill Raw.

“It’s a scam!” Local comedian exposes the rot in Churchill Show (Screenshots)

Proof of this has been the much-touted financial suffering some of the comedians have gone through due to allegedly lopsided contracts that have led them to depression and some at one point or another either left the company to try strike it out on their own or they entirely quit comedy altogether.

Comedian Mulamwa exposes Churchill comedian for stealing his jokes 

Assuming these allegations are true and there is some level of slave contracts getting dolled out by Laugh Industry, why are some of the most vocal and creative people we know, willing to suffer in silence under Churchill? I cannot stress it enough that from here on out, we are working under the supposition that Churchill really does give his comedians a raw deal. Now back to the question at hand. Why are these comics willing to eat excrement?

The only logical reason is they have gone into survival mode knowing full well they cannot win against the gatekeepers of the industry. Apart from a few comedians who have managed to get different platforms that helped them amplify their voices, either on the radio or different TV stations, what alternatives do Kenyan comedians have if they do not want to work with Churchill?
There is the internet. Indeed. But just ask Malumwa about the pitfalls of the internet.

Churchill throws shade at keyboard warriors criticizing him on social media

And in truth, a lot of the comedians we see on the Churchill Show do not have the exposure to understand just how they can use the internet to create an independent platform of their own leveraging their followers. So they feel trapped.
Add to this the fact that some of the comedians who ditched the Churchill show to start their own shows had to crawl back on their knees when their shows flopped and got cancelled.

But at the end of the day, the day ends. And the comedians need to learn to use the internet as it is their only platform free of politics and blackballing that can happen if they offend the gatekeepers.

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